


[investigation: are ghosts real?]

by ttamarrindo



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural!AU, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Humor, Ghosts, M/M, i mean hopefully, now with actual ghosts! and real plot (somewhat), t-rating is for language only again, they are both dumb youtubers basically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ttamarrindo/pseuds/ttamarrindo
Summary: “we need to find out if what you saw was real,” brian insists when jae inevitably squawks in protest. “don’t you wanna show the world that ghosts actually exist?”“yeah,” jae sighs, already digging up his sleeping bag from the depths of his bag. “but not like this.”(or: the one where they are on a quest to find out if ghosts are real or not. or, as jae puts it, to see how many heart attacks he’s capable of enduring before he finally kicks the bucket.)





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> please don't ask me what this is i don't even know myself ahhhhhh; previously titled 'hey there demons it's me, ya boi' in my google docs so you know, don't expect much?

when brian first started posting coldplay covers on youtube he really didn’t expect his channel to blow up as much as it did. granted, he thinks one million subscribers - pushing on two now, after their frankenstein freak-out went viral - is still too much for what they do. not that he’s complaining, mind you. Supernatural K; Unsolved brings in profit, which means brian no longer has to work the graveyard shift at the greasy mcdonalds down by the uni’s art department to make rent. sometimes he even thinks dealing with jae’s ear-piercing screeching and the red crescents the older boy tends to leave on brian’s arms when he gets too scared like the chicken-shit he is are worth it. 

only sometimes though. 

“ _motherfuck-_ ”

“let’s keep this pg, yeah?” brian cuts off jae mid-scream. he makes sure the camera catches jae’s frightened expression at just the right angle and deadpans, “maybe start screaming after you actually see the supernatural being?”

“dude,” jae whispers, dead-quiet but not so much so that brian’s mic doesn’t catch the frightened edge to it. “ _dude_. did you see that?” 

brian looks at where jae’s pointing. the end of the hallway is darkened and not even the faint light of the streetlamp blinking onoffonoff through the cracked window manages to cut through the shadows. the wood panelling creaks under brian’s feet when he takes a step forward and jae visibly blanches at the sound. brian counts one, clicks his flashlight on. two, shines it across the hallways. three- 

“nono _no_ ,” jae goes frantically. his right hand comes down to latch firmly on brian’s arm nails digging hard into his skin as he says, “i changed my mind, i don’t wanna do this anymore. let’s go.”

“hyung,” brian sighs, can't help but snort with laughter when jae turns to him. he’s gone all wide-eyed, baby pink sweater tucked up to his chin. “you promised our viewers you’d stay a whole night here, remember?”

“i did?” jae squeaks out. he turns back to look down the hallway, swallows. then he catches brian aiming the camera right at him and scowls something fierce. “i mean, of course i did. just-” he pauses, shoots brian the kind of frightened sidelong glance that makes his nose scrunch and his forehead crease. brian tires not to coo. “the whole night?”

“do it for our subscribers, hyung.”

jae gulps. then, quietly, he whispers, “fuck this show,” and steps further into the hallway.

 

/

 

“the choi house is said to be haunted since it was first built in 1918,” brian says into the camera. behind him, jae trails hesitatingly. he’s flinching at every little noise and the slightest of movements and brian just knows he’s going to have to edit out all the heavy breathing that he’s doing into the mic. “reported ghost sightings include yoon daesuk, the original owner, his wife aerum, and their son, sungjae-”

“you mean there’s more than one ghost?” jae cuts in. to their side, a window shuts close. hurriedly, jae shuffles closer so that he’s standing next to brian, shoulder to shoulder. “there’s whole family of them?” he whisper-asks. “a _ghost family_?”

“well, yeah.”

“and you just forgot to tell me this?” jae huffs. “you absolute _asshole_. you did it on purpose.”

“did not,” brian says though he very much did. he knows jae’s inherent fear of anything and everything even remotely paranormal runs bone-deep - that, or jae’s just too much of a coward. either way his reactions are priceless. brian still remembers waking up to hundreds of notifications the day after he posted his sunday morning cover back when his channel was still music-based and not this, well, whatever the hell it is now. 

he had asked jae to perform a song with him after finding out his lanky roommate could sing like the best of them and left the part of the video where the older confused a dirty bedsheet hanging from a corner of brian’s closet with a ghost - the lights dimmed for acoustic effect and the way jae always tended to squint his eyes when he sang not helping matters - just to mess with the older. 

but then the video went viral and gifs of jae’s terrified face started circulating and people doing what people do best began making memes of it all. soon, brian’s channel subscriber count doubled and then tripled when jae couldn't keep his goddamn mouth shut and went on a twitter rant explaining how their dorm building was supposedly being haunted and he had every fucking right to freak the fuck out so will everyone just shut up, please.

brian thought it would stop then. a week later, though, jae came to him asking for help filming a video to prove that their building was, in fact, haunted. of course, as it turned out, their dorm was ghost-free and the only thing making those weird creaky noises jae kept hearing in the dead of night was an old rusted pipe that ‘vaguely resembled an axe-murderer. look at it, how can you _not_ scream when you see it.’

point being: that video went viral again and now brian and jae are on a quest to find out if ghosts are real or not for the overall enjoyment of the internet. which is basically just brian scrolling through pages and pages of Korea’s Most Haunted Places articles and then figuring out how to get there.

“shitfuckshit,” jae curses suddenly and brian has barely enough time to blink before jae is scrambling around to get past him. “shitfuckshitfuck-”

“calm down,” brian snaps, camera at the ready to film whatever it was that scared jae that much. he only manages to catch a blurry shot of the door leading into one of the bedrooms before jae smacks the camera down with a wayward elbow in an effort to push past brian. he’s doing his best to move in one general direction: away.

“hyung,” brian calls out exasperatedly. he slams a hand against the wall, effectively blocking jae’s only way out of the house. “there’s nothing there.” 

“didn’t you see it?” jae asks, pointing at the inside of the bedroom. the only things brian can see inside of it are a ratty bed frame and an old bedside table. he turns, raises and eyebrow up at jae. “the _ghost_ , brian. it was right there.”

brian takes a peek again, sees nothing but dusty floors and peeling wallpaper. what he says, though, is this: “oh god, hyung! look! it’s there!”

jae makes some sort of half scream, half frightened hiccup that gets caught up at the back of his throat and clutches so tight at brian’s arm brian’s sure he’ll have bruises by tomorrow morning. 

“please jesus have mercy,” jae begins chanting, “don’t let me die don’t let me die don’t let-”

brian laughs, turning bright eyes jae’s way just in time to see the betrayal wash over his face when he realises brian was just messing around with him. 

“ _you_ ,” he scowls, “you total dick. i’m gonna kill you, gonna murder you bloody-”

“i wouldn't do that if i were you, hyung,” brian grins. “i’d just come back to haunt you.”

jae gapes at him for a heartbeat, two, and then yells out in raw frustration, “you don’t even believe in ghosts!”

brian shrugs, “if it came to you,” he says, “i would.” 

 

/

 

much to jae’s regret, brian decides that they’re going to spend the night sleeping on the bedroom where jae supposedly encountered the ghost. 

jae grouches and complains and whines and then resorts to pleading and bargaining when that fails in the face of brian’s stubborn determination. 

“we need to see if what you saw was real,” he insists when jae inevitably squawks in protest. “don’t you wanna show the world that ghosts are real?”

“yeah,” jae sighs, already digging up his sleeping bag from the depths of his bag. “but not like this.”

it’s only when they’re already in their sleeping bags that brian gives in. jae is tucked so far into the uncomfortable fabric that only the thing visible of him is his blond mop of hair haloing out under him. he visibly flinches when brian shifts on his side to watch him better. 

“hey,” brian whispers, soft enough not to startle the older. the camera is off now, so brian doesn’t hesitate when he goes to card a hand through jae’s hair. “hey. hyung.” 

“what,” jae grumbles back, annoyed no doubt, but he still pushes back into brian’s hand. 

“nothing,” brian answers, shuffling closer so he can tuck his feet near jae’s calfs and curls his body closer. “you can hold my hand if you’re too scared, you know.”

“i’m not a child. i don’t need to hold your hand, for fuck’s sake,” jae snaps back but he’s far too sleepy for it too sound too biting. brian smiles, threads their fingers together either way. 

when jae blinks open one judging eye his way brian grins and says, “it’s for me. you never know what’s lurking out there.”

“so _now_ you’re scared,” jae scoffs and even through the dark brian can see the slight curve if his lips. 

“shitlless,” brian agrees easily. 

“you asshole,” jae laughs but he reaches out and curls his arm around brian all the same. “don’t worry, i’ll protect you.”

“i know you will,” brian answers and goes to sleep.

 

/

 

they don’t make it through the night, in the end. a window shatters in the kitchen from a too-strong gust of wind around three in the morning and jae wakes up in a fit of fright and does not go back to sleep again. 

in the video there are a few frames of brian’s disgruntled face, puffy from sleep and barely awake, before jae comes flailing in the background, screaming bloody murder, and the screen goes black. 

brian edits it so that it later shows them outside the choi house - both still clad in their pajamas, which for brian means a more acceptable white-shirt grey-sweatpant combo than the frayed adventure time shirt jae’s over his polka-dotted underwear. 

“so,” brian says into the camera. “we didn’t quite make it through the night because someone here,” he coughs. jae’s scowls, “got scared but i think it’s safe to say the only thing haunting in this place is jae’s awful bed hair.”

“hey,” jae snaps, makes a half-hearted attempt at straightening out the mess on top of his head and curling around his forehead. 

brian laughs, the sound high and bright. “this has been it for today’s episode, we hope to see you next week but until then…” he shoots jae an expectant look when the older stays quiet.

jae huffs. “i’m not gonna say it.”

“c’mon,” brian prods. “you have to admit there was nothing here.” 

“nothing that we could _see_ ,” jae refutes but sighs all the same and turns to look at the camera. “but until then,” he begins. “the mystery of the choi house and whether it is actually haunted or not... remains unsolved.”

“perfect,” brian grins and shuts the camera off.


	2. ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “emf - short for electromagnetic field reader,” brian explains from where he’s filming a shot of the apartment. “it’ll let us know if there’s any ghost activity in here.” 
> 
> “oh,” wonpil fits his hands in the hem of his sweater and asks, “so, is there?” 
> 
> “let’s find out,” jae says, and clicks the device on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise the next thing i post will be more serious /cries;; i'm sorry for any/all mistake i didn't really sleep last night but i wanted to post something still.

“c’mon, hyung, get off your ass. we’ve caught a case.”

a dull thud follows the tired groan that comes from the overall direction of the kitchen - jae’s preferred study space, because he insists he can’t focus in the living room, cluttered as it with brian’s books about the occult and other, much more satanic stuff, as jae puts it. 

setting down the camera he had been checking over, brian peeks over into the kitchen to see jae slumped over their table. “hyung,” he calls back to him, “didn’t you hear me? we’ve got a case.”

“can you please not call it that,” comes jae’s huffed out reply. he’s frowning at brian - or well, in brian’s general direction. he’s got a post-it note stuck to the bridge of his glasses, squinting against the light. “you make it sounds like we’re professionals or some shit, babe.”

“we are.”

“professional asshats maybe,” jae snorts back at him and the post-it note flickers at the breath he lets out. frowning when he feels it tickle his nose, jae brushes it away. brian grins, takes a picture as quietly as he can, and answers, “let’s stick with entertainers for now. we can’t have our subscribers thinking so lowly of us.”

“please, i lost what was left of my dignity when you made me chase a goddamn _dog_ down yanghwa bridge at ass o’clock in morning.”

brian fights down a laugh but doesn’t quite manage to hide his grin. “i already apologized for that. and, in my defense, i had no way of knowing the dog wasn’t actually the goat demon the rumours were all talking about.”

jae mutters something back at him that sounds suspiciously like _fact check your source next time, asshole_ but brian lets it slide; they really need to get going. 

“c’mon, we should be halfway there already.”

“where is ‘there’ exactly?” jae asks as he climbs reluctantly to his feet. he seems tired, shoulders slumped and eyes red. brian makes a silent promise to make it up to him once this case is over. he wouldn’t have insisted so much - not when jae is already neck-deep in school work and midterms threaten in the horizon - but there’s something different about this one, something he can’t let go. 

“a uni apartment by songsang.” brian answers, shrugging the bag full of their filming equipment over one shoulder and pushing the door open for jae to step out. “kim wonpil - a student from dankook university -he says, well, he says he’s being haunted by a poltergeist.”

one foot out of the door, jae freezes. “wait,” he blinks wide-eyed at brian, who grimaces back at him in return. yeah, he knows how that sounds. “there’s someone actually _alive_ in this case.”

“well, yeah,” brian replies and tugs at jae’s hand to get him moving before the older can protest. “i know it’s not what we usually film but-” he sighs at the unimpressed look jae shoots him, “ _but_ , sungjin hyung asked if we could to check it out. i couldn’t say no.”

“sungjin,” jae chews on the name like he can’t quite believe it. to be fair, at first neither had brian. sungjin has always been skeptical about their youtube channel - he watches it of course, if only so he can laugh at jae and call brian whipped when he slips and forgets the cameras are there, when he looks at his boyfriend a little too fondly, a little too telling. 

but brian had also thought sungin understood the whole concept of the show. they’re not some knock-off ghostbusters - they don’t solve supernatural problems; as much as they pretend to know about the paranormal for their viewers, they are as clueless about it as the next person. sure, brian does his research now and then. he check onlines forums and reads grim, dusty books about the cryptid when he’s supposed to be studying for his micro-economic class but that’s the extent of it. he doesn’t really believe any of it is (or could be) real. 

sungjin had sounded worried, though, had said _wonpil’s a nice kid and he’s really scared_ with obvious concern. and well, even if this wonpil guy turns out to be some gullible student driven to paranoia at least they’ll get a good episode out of it. 

 

/

 

kim wonpil lives in a dorm apartment a few minutes off campus. it’s a nice neighborhood, far nicer than what a first-year uni student should be able to afford. the building is newly painted. there is green ivy vine twisting its way up the side of the complex and the stairs leading up to the foyer are all polished wood. brian thinks of the broken windows and the unstable walls of the choi house - their last Supernatural K episode - looks back at the ringing wind chimes hanging from the awning, and can’t help but judge. 

much the same as him, jae raises a disbelieving eyebrow when brian tells him they do have the right place after checking the address sungin texted him for a third time, says in the kind of deadpan tone brian knows all too well, “ _this_ is the house the poltergeist is haunting?”

brian shrugs for a lack of anything better to say and presses the buzzer. it’s only a few minutes later that they are let in. 

on their way up the stairs to the third floor, jae asks, “you sure this isn't some kind of prank? sure it isn’t just sungjin messing around with us?”

“maybe,” brian answers and gives jae’s hand a quick squeeze that needs no words to say: but we’re doing it all the same. 

jae sighs, nods once, and rings the doorbell. there’s a crash somewhere inside the apartment, a quick _coming!_ and then the door opens up to show a frazzled boy doing his best to appear presentable in a truly eye-catching pink sweater. 

“hi, uh, are you the hyungs from Supernatural K?” he rushes out in one breath. brian shares a look with jae that says everything and nothing at once and then points down to the camera hanging from his neck.

“we are, yeah. kim wonpil-ssi?”

“ah, just wonpil’s fine,” wonpil smiles, though it comes out just that bit strained. “come on in. i’m so relieved you guys are here.”

stepping through the door, brian takes a look around. the apartment looks as nice as the building itself. open windows, a clean kitchen, a few music sheets laying scattered around. no signs of death threats written in the blood of the innocent or butcher knives stuck to the walls.

“so, uh, sungjin said you got a bit of a ghost infestation?” jae asks. 

demurely, wonpil nods once. “it started a few months after i moved in,” he explains. brian sets their bag down and ruffles aournd for the right equipment as he listens. “at first it was just small stuff - weird, but easy to explain away, i guess.” wonpil shrugs. “the living room lights would turn on and off, cold spots near the piano,” he points towards the upright yamaha set against the far left wall. “but a few weeks ago it started getting worse.”

“worse?” jae asks, voice bordering on a squeak. brian can tell by the panicked look he shoots him that he’s buying into wonpil’s story already. 

“yeah,” wonpil falters, looks between jae and brian hesitantly. “last night i - i heard a voice. just a whisper, really. but it was _there_. i think - i think it was trying to talk to me.”

“the voice,” brian echoes and thinks by the way that wonpil flinches slightly at his tone that he didn’t do a good job of hiding the incredulity in his voice.

“you don’t believe me?”

“that’s not what i meant,” brian sighs - at the same time, jae says, “we do.” brian shoots him a look but all jae does in response is shrug a shoulder his way. figures, brian thinks, and turns back to look at wonpil. 

“it’s just - you know we’re not actually professionals right?” he asks and ignores his boyfriend’s scandalized _that’s not what you said before, you hypocrite!_ in favor of making sure his point gets across. “we run a youtube channel. we’re here to film an episode. i don’t know what you’re expecting us to do.”

“frankly, right now all i want is for someone to tell me i’m not going crazy,” wonpil admits ruefully. he’s wringing his hands together, eyes down-cast. “i just want someone to tell me it’s _real_.”

brian feels guilt snatch at his throat at that. he’s pretty certain now that wonpil’s either high or just plain naive. he has a video to shoot, though, and jae seems to believe him even if he’s too scared to admit to it, so he keeps quiet. 

“how about we set up the emf reader?” jae asks in an effort to break the awkward silence and grabs for the bag, plucking the little device out. 

“what’s that?” wonpil asks curiously as he steps closer and peers down at it. 

“emf - short for electromagnetic field reader,” brian explains from where he’s filming a shot of the apartment. “it’ll let us know if there’s any ghost activity in here.” 

“oh,” wonpil fits his hands in the hem of his sweater and asks, “so, is there?” 

“let’s find out,” jae says, and clicks the device on. 

they all stare at the reader, waiting for - something. brian isn’t sure why, but he’s a bit disappointed when nothing happens and the emf reader stays silent. maybe he had thought - hoped - for it to lit up red, for it to signal that yes, there was indeed a ghost haunting this apartment. if not for their viewers, then for wonpil, who slumps down that moment he realises the reader had picked up nothing. 

“hey,” jae starts carefully. “this doesn’t mean the poltergeist isn’t here, just that it isn’t here _now_. we can stick around a bit longer, see if we can draw it out,” he says and wonpil visibly perks up at that. 

“will you really?” he asks, half scared half hopeful.

“yeah,” jae agrees and grimaces. brian knows the idea of actually trying to _lure a ghost out_ to talk to them must have jae wanting to run for the hills, but wonpil had looked so distraught at the thought of being proven wrong that - well, brian can understand why jae’s willing to give it a try. just this once.

 

/

 

they do try. 

for all that brian is certain that ghosts don’t actually exist he knows how to contact them - or fake to contact them. whatever. 

they set up the camere, film a quick introduction of wonpil explaining his situation and then they try. 

they lit up candles and turn off the lights, draw themselves a circle of salt because jae’s visibly scared now that the dark is here and salt, of all things, is supposed to act as protection. they have wonpil asking the supposed ghost what it wants, what it’s doing there, why him. 

they try. 

ultimately, though, they fail. 

“i’m sorry,” brian says to wonpil as he packs their bags. it’s a quarter past ten now which means they’ve spent about eight hours in wonpil’s apartment trying to talk to a wayward ghost that’s (of course) not talking back. mainly because it’s not fucking real. 

“it’s okay,” wonpil tells him but by dejected tone of his voice brian knows he’s pretty upset about the whole thing. brian really doesn’t know what to say. he thinks wonpil crazy for believing he’s being haunted by a poltergeist of all things but the thought of not being able to help doesn’t sit right with him. 

but there’s nothing he can do, brian tells himself. he doesn’t think wonpil would appreciate him giving him the number of a therapist. 

“we just need one last shot,” he says and turns to jae, camera ready. he motions for wonpil to step beside him so he can get him into the shot.

“well,” jae starts reluctantly. “it seems that the mystery of kim wonpil’s poltergeist remains-”

to their right, a window shatters apart. 

“holy jesus - what the _fuck_?”

glass rains down on them faster than they can cover up. brian flinches when he feels a piece nick him across his bicep. he blinks, finds jae is the source of the incoherent screaming, and goes to wrap an arm around his waist to keep him away from the glass. 

“dude,” jae whispers, eyes wide and frantic as he looks around and clutches at brian’s shoulders like it’s the only thing keeping him upright. “dude, you don’t think-”

“look!” 

brian turns, sees wonpil pointing at the far end of the living room and shaking so badly he seems a heartbeat away from crying. near the kitchen, just by the threshold, a knife hovers in the air. 

a knife. hovers in the air. 

brian blinks. once. twice. doesn’t really believe what he sees. he feels jae choke on air at his side, nails digging into his skin, trembling, and - 

“duck!”

jae pushes brian down just as the knife whizzes past them. the blade-slash of air next to his ear tells him just how close it came to catching his skin. there’s a dull thud from where the knife’s embedded itself on wonpil’s door. 

the lights flicker offonoffonf. the windows rattle. 

on the door, the knife scratches against the wood. 

“i told you this shit was fucking real!” jae half screams half flails in brian’s direction, looking frantic and panicked and all kinds of frazzled. “fucking poltergeist. fucking _ghosts_ -”

“it’s real,” wonpil whispers from where he’s standing near his couch, eyes trained on the knife as it finally falls down to the ground and the lights flicker one last time before they blink on. “it’s - it’s all real.”

“i-” brian starts, doesn't quite know how to finish because his camera is still rolling, has caught it all, had _proved_ it all. 

because there, scratched on wonpil’s wooden door, are two damning words: _i’m here_.

figures, brian thinks, and this time, when jae begins screaming again, he has to fight not to scream with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a turn. i've got somewhat of a plot so let's see where that takes us. i'd love to know what you guys think about it all being real now T-T
> 
> as always, find me on [tumblr](https://jahehyung.tumblr.com/)! thanks for reading <3


	3. iii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finding a murder in seoul turns out to be pretty easy. finding the right murder is, however, a hell of a lot harder.

by the time they make it back to their apartment, sungjin is already waiting for them at the door. 

he takes one look at the way jae’s clinging to brian, the way brian himself can’t seem to take his hands away from jae, just to make sure he’s there, make sure he’s safe. his eyes linger on wonpil, who’s staring blankly at the wall in front of him, hair ruffled and nails bitten. then he sighs, deep and low and entirely long-suffering.

“what did you idiots do this time?” 

“not our fault,” jae grumbles back indignantly. it’s almost a reflex by this point, to snap something back when he hears sungjin’s chiding tone. it comes from three years of friendship and the feeling of knowing each other too well. sungjin raises an eyebrow in return, clearly disbelieving.

“for once,“ brian cuts in, grabbing wonpil by the crook of his elbow and pulling him towards the door, hoping to stop the argument before it starts, “i have to agree with him.” 

jae smiles, then scowls, can’t seem to decide if he should be happy brian took his side for once or offended he doesn't do it more often. in the end, all he does is pat brian on the arm and tiredly mutter something that sounds like _good boyfriend_ before he makes his way to the door and tries - and fails - to unlock it. 

“let me,” sungjin sighs, taking the keys from jae’s shaking hands and pushing the door open, waiting for them all to pile into the hallway before he slams it shut. “i’m going to go make you all some tea, then you’re going to explain what happened tonight. in _detail_.” 

and so they do. wonpil seems to come back into himself the more tea he drinks and jae’s hands stop shaking halfway through brian retelling the whole floating-knife situation. sungjin seems like he’s going to call bullshit at first but then jae says, “hey, didn’t you film the whole thing?” and brian remembers the camera still packed inside his bag. 

they all crowd together to watch the footage. it’s shaky, and there’s static coming through the mic, making it hard to tell what they’re saying, but brian thinks the knife slashing through the air only a few inches away from his face and embedding itself on the door is pretty clear, considering. sungjin lest out a heavy breath when the screen turns to black, closes his eyes, squares his shoulders, and says, “figures it would be you two.”

“i take offense,” jae mumbles, but it’s half-hearted at best because really, there’s nothing much to say to that. ever since brian walked into his dorm room freshman year and found jae wobbling on a chair trying to hang a fall out boy poster to his bedside wall life’s never been the same. and sure, maybe that could sound like something of a hyperbole to someone who doesn’t know them well but brian’s found that after you’ve spent a night in a cell on a police station with your boyfriend after the cops caught you sneaking into an abandoned building to film a video for your 1.6 million subscribers ‘life-changing’ fits just about right.

still, considering the fact that sungjin was the one who had to bail them out that night brian thinks the elder’s reticence to get involved in one of their messes again is sort of understandable. 

only sort of, though. 

“look,” sungjin says, and sighs for what feels like the thousandth time that night, “it’s far too late to think properly right now, nevermind actually make sense of this - this -” he waves a hand at the camera, “ghost thing, or whatever is happening, so i’m going to take wonpil home with me and tomorrow we’re gonna meet at the café by the admin centre and discuss what to do like responsable adults.”

jae pulls a face at the word responsible, or maybe it’s adult that makes him twist his mouth in disgust, but ultimately he agrees. they bid sungjin and wonpil goodnight and then head to their room, going through the motions of getting ready for bed almost on autopilot. 

it’s when they’re laying on their backs, facing their cracked ceiling and trying to find sleep that eludes them both when jae turns around to look at him and says, “i think we’re biting more than we can chew with this.”

“well,” brian sighs, “that makes two of us,” and pats around the bed until he finds jae’s hand under the sheets, locking their fingers together. “you think we should do it?”

jae falls silence, but it’s in the quiet that brian finds his answer - of course they’re doing this. wonpil is a good kid. they don't know him much, sure, but brian is a good judge of character when it counts. he can tell he’s not wrong when it comes to wonpil. and even if he _was_ , he’s never been one to turn a blind eye when someone needs help. he knows jae isn’t the type either, and even though they don’t know how much help they’ll be or what exactly that help will entail, there’s really only one answer to brian’s question. 

jae seems to reach the same conclusion because he tightens his hold on brian’s hand and says, “at least we’ll get a good episode out of it.” 

and brian can’t help it, he laughs, buries the sound in jae’s skin when he turns to hide his face in the older’s shoulder and laughs harder still until he feels jae’s arm come around his waist and pull him closer. 

they’re gonna be okay, he thinks as sleep begins to darken his vision. if they’re together, they’ll be okay. 

murderous ghost and their floating knives can go suck it. 

 

/

 

tomorrow afternoon finds the four of them huddled by a table in a café near central campus. jae’s got his eyes fixed on his phone, no doubt checking the response to the apology they tweeted, asking their followers to be a little patient. as it is, they won’t be able to post their next episode until a week after it’s due but they’re hoping the quality will balance out the wait. it’s not often they find an actual ghost when they go looking for trouble, after all.

“so,” sungjin starts, “let’s go over the basics.” 

“there’s a ghosts in my house,” wonpil answer, which sums it pretty well, if you ask brian. wonpil seems better now that he’s got a good night’s sleep on him. he looks a bit wary, but ultimately determined. he’s gripping his mug of coffee a bit tighter than necessary but there’s an edge of steel to his gaze. he’s a though one, brian knows he’ll be okay. 

“and we need to get rid of it,” jae adds, clicking his phone off and sending a brief nod brian’s way. “preferably without getting maimed too badly in the process.” 

“got any ideas how to go about that?” sungjin asks, and it’s only when he raises an eyebrow that brian realises he’s waiting for him to answer.

“well,” brian starts, trying to dredge up any information he has on the matter. he’s usually the one who does the research when it comes to the cases he and jae choose for their channel and he’s admittedly the more knowledgeable of the two when it comes to the supernatural. jae’s in charge of the screaming. “often, when a ghost is haunting a specific place, it’s because it died there. him, i mean, or she. i don’t know the sex of the ghost.” 

“ _the sex of the ghost_ ,” jae breathes incredulously, then he slumps down on the table and whines, “what even is my life anymore.”

wonpil seems not to notice. “so you mean someone died in my dorm?” he asks. his voice is thin, his hands trembling slightly when he speaks, just enough for the ring sitting on his index finger to cling against his ceramic mug. “there’s no way the university’s administration would keep that quiet. they would have said something.”

“it could have happened a long time ago,” sungjin says. “we could be talking decades.”

“or centuries,” jae supplies. “who knows, maybe it’s jack the ripper haunting your dorm.” 

“sure, because the ghost of a british serial killer would end up in seoul,” brian bites back at the same time that wonpil frowns and goes, “who?”

“i’m just saying,” jae shrugs, “we don’t know what we’re dealing here with. it could be anyone.” 

“then that should be our first step.” sungjin sets his mug down. “we need to figure out who died here. and stop them, before they can hurt someone.” 

silence follows. no one dares speak. that is until jae, who’s staring at sungjins wide-eyed, whispers a quiet “fuck, that was badass.” he grins. “babe,” he turns towards brian, who scowls at the look in jae’s face, “why aren’t you this cool?” 

“shut up,” brian grouches, pushing at jae’s shoulder and trying to fight off a smile at the pout he gets in return. “you’re as lame as i am. now, let’s go to the public library. they should have prints of old newspapers we can search.”

“you could at least have made that sound a little more interesting.” 

“shut up.” brian goes to flick jae on the forehead in retaliation but then wonpil laughs. the sound rings free and unburdened across the café; there’s a happy curve to his mouth that makes the stress lines around his eyes fade away, so brian grabs jae’s hand in his instead and lets it go. 

they have a ghost to find. 

 

/

 

finding a murder in seoul turns out to be pretty easy. finding the right murder is, however, a hell of a lot harder. 

“just how many people have died in this city, god.” jae has his head on the table, arms spread out and knocking against the many files filled with old newspaper clippings the librarian gave them. next to him, wonpil flicks through another file, this one thicker, and frowns. 

“a lot,” sungjin offers from where he’s jotting down something on a notebook. “now get back to looking. the library’s about to close.”

brian looks up from his own set of files to see the clock hanging from the wall opposite him is about to strike twelve. he sighs, cracks his fingers and his back. he’s been sitting in the same position for three hours and it shows in the stiffness of his joints. the librarian working at the front desk shoots him a dark look when brian glances her way and he winces. he doesn’t know what she makes of them, four college students furiously researching old murders and homicides, but he figures it can’t be anything good. 

“we’re getting nowhere,” jae sighs, slamming his file shut much too loudly. the sound rings loud in the almost-empty library hall. from the entrance, the librarian shushes them viciously. “we need to narrow down our search.” 

“yeah, but how?” wonpil asks. “we know nothing about the ghost.” 

“are you sure?” jae asks back. when wonpil shoots him a dirty look, he adds, “i mean, you’ve been living with it for two years now, there’s gotta be something that stands out, right?” 

“i don’t know,” wonpil grits out. it’s obvious by the bite in his tone that he’s getting frustrated. “i haven’t exactly tried to make polite conversation.” 

jae winces, opens his mouth to say something else but sungjin chooses that moment to put his hand over wonpil’s own and sends him a placating glance. “i know it’s hard,” he starts, soft and careful. wonpil visibly forces himself to relax. “but jaehyung’s right. isn’t there something you’ve noticed, something odd, apart from the lights flickering and the cold spots?”

“no. i mean, maybe. but i don’t- i don’t know if-” wonpil falters, clearly hesitant. brian reaches out, tries for a smile. 

“anything helps,” he says, “even if you think it’s dumb, we won’t know if it’s important unless you tell us.”

“there’s this - this sound,” wonpil breathes out, shoulders slumping down, like a weight has been lifted off of them. “i’ve heard it a few times only, mostly when i’m practicing on my keyboard. i thought it was my neighbor at first but she’s not always around when it happens. it’s like - like a rhythm.”

“a rhythm?” jae echoes, leaning forwards. 

“yeah,” wonpil swallows. “when i play the piano, it sounds like someone is keeping time.”

 

/

 

they don’t get much work down after that. they part with promises of trying again later and each head their own way, wonpil to sungjin’s apartment, the four of them feeling defeated but not willing to show it.

staying true to his word, brian keeps on researching. he looks up old news on naver and asks around for the uni’s morbid myths and legend. he learns a lot, mostly where to buy weed and the faculty’s dirty secrets, if the rumors are to be believed, but nothing that could point out the potential cause for a haunting.

he’s close to giving up when he gets the call. he and jae are in the middle of their weekly ‘the office’ marathon when sungjin calls. pausing the show, brian answers only to be met with the sounds of screaming and the cracking of static. 

“you need to get to wonpil’s apartment right now!” sungjin cries through the phone as brian bolts up from the couch and motions for jae to get ready to leave. 

“what’s going on? are you alright?”

“i know who the ghost is.” there’s a crash somewhere on the other side of the line and what sounds like wonpil screaming in fright. then, frantic, sungjin’s voice comes again.

“his name is yoon dowoon,” he breathes, “and i think he’s angry.” 

then, a scream. and the line goes dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm having way too much with this / find me on [tumblr](https://jahehyung.tumblr.com/) and/or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ttamarrindo)

**Author's Note:**

> i made i gifset for this which you can find [here](https://jahehyung.tumblr.com/post/169023456888/jaehyungparkianau-buzzfeed-unsolved)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/ttamarrindo)!


End file.
